Chapter 28 His attitude had always been very clear. ...
Mu Tingyu stood up on her own initiative, stepped back a little, and made way for Xing Ze.
Xing Ze squatted down with a hammer in hand, using the pointed end to pry out the crooked tent pegs, and tested them on the ground at a few spots.
Wang Jiale remained squatting in place, standing shoulder to shoulder with Xing Ze, his face somewhat grim: "Brother Xing, you timed it so perfectly?"
Xing Ze held the nail with his hand, carefully controlling the pressure, and slowly tapped it one tap at a time.
Seeing that he ignored her, Wang Jiale didn't care. She lowered her voice and spoke in a volume that only the two of them could hear: "We're both men, so I'll be blunt—I know what you're thinking."
"But she's not someone you can even dream of. Give up on her now."
Xing Ze lowered his eyes, firmly nailed the nail to the ground, reached out and pulled the rope from one corner of the tent cloth, tied it tightly to the buckle, and after doing everything methodically, he lifted his eyelids and looked at the arrogant boy.
“Want to?” He repeated the word slowly, as if he found it somewhat amusing, a rare hint of mockery appearing on his face.
"I've thought about it, what do you think?"
Wang Jiale was stunned for a moment, not expecting such an arrogant reply. After realizing what he meant, she immediately flared up: "You..."
“If I were you,” Xing Ze interrupted him slowly, “I wouldn’t have let her squat here waiting for you for almost ten minutes, only to be unable to even handle a broken nail.”
"Instead of wasting time on harsh words, you should learn how to be shameless."
Wang Jiale's face flushed red, and he gritted his teeth: "You motherfucker..."
Xing Ze ignored him and stood up to face the girl standing to the side.
Mu Tingyu tilted her head and smiled at him: "Okay?"
Xing Ze hummed in agreement and said, "It's cold at night, go change into long pants."
"I'm not cold." She blinked, her eyes slightly mischievous. "I thought you went upstairs."
Xing Ze reached out and touched her slightly cool cheek: "Be good, go change."
Seeing that he didn't respond, Mu Tingyu could only puff out her cheeks to show her dissatisfaction, but still obediently said, "Okay."
She scurried into the house, her back view showing a hint of excitement.
"How dare you say that to me?"
Wang Jiale, who was squatting on the ground, suddenly spoke up and sneered: "Didn't you stand at the door and watch for ten minutes? What were you doing just now? Now you're pretending to be a good guy?"
Xing Ze watched her figure disappear around the corner of the stairs without saying a word.
"Stop looking, it's none of your business." Wang Jiale stood up, dusted off his hands, and said sarcastically, "Countless people pursued Tingyu back then, but you're not even in the running."
He raised his chin arrogantly and spoke politely, "Excuse my bluntness, Brother Xing, but what else do you have besides this house? I heard you're unemployed now, without any income?"
"My shoes alone cost ten thousand, and what about you?" He scanned Xing Ze's rather plain clothes from head to toe, then chuckled cryptically. "You're not still worrying about food money for tomorrow, are you? I'll be blunt, but what can you give her?"
Xing Ze remained expressionless and said calmly, "You talk too much nonsense."
"..." Wang Jiale laughed angrily, gritting her teeth as she spoke, "I really don't understand what you're so arrogant about. Please get this straight, she's just staying at your house and has become close to you for a while—"
He looked like he'd just realized something: "Oh—you didn't actually think she liked you, did you?"
Xing Ze finally turned to look at him.
Looking at his expression, Wang Jiale suddenly felt a surge of pleasure.
He smiled and shook his head, seemingly full of sympathy and pity, then helplessly spread his hands: "You're overthinking it, aren't you?"
"Tingyu is very naive. She's nice to whoever is nice to her and gets close to them. That's just her personality."
"Don't ever think she's interested in you. To be honest, it sounds kind of funny."
After he finished speaking, he patted Xing Ze on the shoulder as if he had won a victory, and walked towards the others.
Xing Ze stood there, his eyes somewhat dark.
The light from the small lamp at the entrance was dim. He lowered his eyes, and the shadow on his face remained motionless, as if frozen in time.
At this moment, Mu Tingyu came running down the stairs, looking somewhat panicked.
He relaxed his brow, took a few steps forward, and went inside: "What's wrong?"
"I...I got my period..." Mu Tingyu stopped in front of him, her face contorted with grief. "I'm doomed..."
Xing Ze took a few seconds to react: "...Didn't bring sanitary napkins?"
"I brought it." She bit her lip.
"What happened?"
Mu Tingyu reached out and grabbed his clothes, her face contorted pitifully: "It will hurt my stomach, it will hurt a lot, a lot."
Xing Ze frowned: "Does it hurt now?"
"It doesn't hurt," she shook her head, "but it should start to hurt soon."
Xing Ze had zero experience dealing with women's menstrual problems, and asked in a low voice, "Is there any way to alleviate it?"
“If it were possible, it wouldn’t be this scary.” Mu Tingyu shook her head, her face full of frustration. “Why did it have to come today?... We even played in the water today, and I was wearing shorts! Oh my god, help me, why did it have to come so many days early…”
Judging from her tone, it seemed quite serious. Xing Ze's brows furrowed more and more as he listened: "Is there nothing you can do about the pain? Are you just going to tough it out?"
"Yes." She sounded somewhat resigned to her fate.
Would applying a hot water bottle help?
"Oh, do you have a hot water bottle?" She nodded weakly. "That should be of some use."
"Why don't you go lie down on the bed first?" Xing Ze patted her head. "I'll bring it up for you in a bit."
Mu Tingyu thought for a moment and said, "I'll go outside and tell them first."
Xing Ze hummed in agreement, watched her walk away, took out his phone, and made a call.
The call was answered very quickly.
"Wow, that's strange, you actually called me on your own initiative?"
"Sis, I have a question for you."
"?"
Xing En was shocked and glanced at the contact name on her phone again: "Who are you? Who possessed my brother? You audacious monster, show yourself at once!"
"......"
Xing Ze didn't have time to pay attention to her and went straight to the point: "Sis, what should a girl do if she has menstrual cramps?"
"Hey," Xing En realized, "Your little girlfriend has menstrual cramps?"
Xing Ze paused for a moment, then denied it, saying, "She's not my little girlfriend."
"They're all the same, what's the difference to you?"
Xing En chuckled, finding it quite unusual for her younger brother to ask her such a question. Therefore, she patiently explained a whole bunch of things to him and gave him a long list of precautions.
That's about it, understand?
Xing Ze hummed in agreement.
"Oh, and do you have a backrest pillow? You can use one to support your lower back. Menstrual cramps aren't just about stomach pain; your back can hurt too. Using a pillow will help."
"Then if she's in too much pain, she'll need painkillers. Do you have any painkillers?"
Upon hearing about medicine, he frowned and then hummed in agreement.
“Of course,” Xing En’s voice suddenly became a little frivolous, “if she agrees, you can rub her stomach for her.”
"......"
“Girls are very vulnerable and irritable during their periods, so you have to give in to them in everything.” She earnestly advised, “You’re not allowed to sulk or yell at her.”
"Um."
"Would it kill you to say one more word?" Xing En pouted. "Anything else? If not, I'm hanging up."
Xing Ze could tell from her background noise that she seemed to be at the airport: "Are you on a business trip?"
Xing En retorted rudely, "What's it to you?"
She slammed the phone down.
Xing Ze was already used to her temper. He put away his phone and turned to walk towards the kitchen.
After greeting her friends, Mu Tingyu went inside and saw him in the kitchen, so she came in too. "What are you doing?"
"Brew brown sugar ginger tea."
"Huh?" Mu Tingyu looked at him in surprise, barely swallowing the words "you straight man" back down. "...You actually know about brown sugar ginger tea? Did you secretly search for it online just now?"
Xing Ze glanced at her: "Ask my sister."
"Sister? Sister?" Mu Tingyu's ears immediately burned. "What... what did you say?"
Xing Ze looked at her blank expression, a hint of amusement in his eyes: "Ask so many questions?"
"Even asking won't work."
Mu Tingyu followed him closely, watching him wash the ginger, slice it, boil water, and get the brown sugar.
When will the pain start?
"Hmm?" Mu Tingyu shook her head. "I don't know. I'll leave it to fate. I only have a slight feeling right now."
"Go upstairs and lie down. I'll bring it up to you when I'm done cooking."
"No, I want to watch you cook."
Xing Ze couldn't persuade her otherwise, so he could only speed up his work.
-
"Brother Xin, do you have any scissors? This rope is too long, we need to cut it." Cao Yaxi wiped the sweat from her forehead and called out to Zhang Xin.
Zhang Xin didn't even look up: "No, go inside and ask Brother Xing if he has any."
Seeing that Cao Yaxi was still busy, Huang Jing stood up and said, "I'll go!"
She went inside and headed straight for the kitchen, where the lights were on. She could vaguely see someone at the stove through the window.
She took two steps forward, about to call out to someone, but then froze.
After a while, Cao Yaxi walked in from the door and called out softly, "Xiaojing? What are you doing standing there?"
Huang Jing turned around and gestured for her to be quiet.
Cao Yaxi tiptoed over and looked into the kitchen with her.
There were two people in front of the stove, both with their backs to the door, standing very close together.
Xing Ze had his head down, and it seemed he was stirring something in the pot with a spoon.
Mu Tingyu stood beside him, tilted her head to look at him, and said something with her eyes crinkled.
Xing Ze listened without looking up, and naturally reached out and poked her head.
Mu Tingyu touched the spot where she had been poked without a care, and then said something.
This time, Xing Ze raised the spoon in his hand, brought it to his lips as if blowing on it to cool it down, and then held it up in front of Mu Tingyu.
It was pitch black outside, and the lights in the front hall were off; only a small area in the kitchen was lit.
The lights were dim, casting a soft glow, which, along with the rising steam from the pot, created a warm and cozy atmosphere.
Mu Tingyu took his hand, brought it close, took a sip, and then commented on it.
Xing Ze's lips curved into a smile as he quietly looked at her, his expression incredibly gentle.
Cao Yaxi opened her mouth slightly and whispered, "They...it seems..."
Huang Jing nodded.
"Xiao Jing." Cao Yaxi glanced at her worriedly, "You..."
Huang Jing shook her head at her, then took her hand and walked outside.
As they approached the door, Cao Yaxi finally spoke up: "Are you alright?"
"What are you thinking about?" Huang Jing looked at her with amusement.
Cao Yaxi seemed hesitant to speak.
Seeing her expression, Huang Jing laughed and said, "Oh dear, I really was just joking. Actually, Xing Ze's attitude has always been quite clear, hasn't it?"
Cao Yaxi nodded: "That's true."
"Maybe only Tingbao didn't realize it yet," Huang Jing shook her head helplessly and sighed. "But now it seems like she's starting to get it. It's really not easy."
"Have you and Tingyu known each other for a long time?"
“Yes,” Huang Jing said nostalgically, “we met during a volunteer activity when she was a freshman in college.”
Cao Yaxi laughed and said, "Even if you don't know her, you've probably heard of her. What's the saying again? — The prettiest and most cheerful girl in the department. There are probably still posters of her on the campus walls."
Huang Jing laughed too: "But once you really get to know her, you'll find that being pretty and always smiling is the least praiseworthy quality she has. Only people who don't know her would say that."
“So—” she blinked, “Wang Jiale has absolutely no chance of winning her over.”
Cao Yaxi chuckled and said, "At a time like this, you have to tease him a little..."
The two girls' hushed voices gradually faded away at the doorway.
.
The night was deep and quiet, and the whole world was plunged into darkness.
There was still someone sitting on the third-floor balcony, quiet and still, seemingly blending into the night.
Xing Ze looked up at the moon hanging in the sky, picked up the wine beside him, and took a sip.
A few rays of moonlight peeked through the clouds and spilled onto the balcony.
He showed no signs of fatigue, his expression was clear, but his eyes were very deep, as if they were filled with a thick fog.
After a while, he put down his wine glass, tilted his head back, closed his eyes, and leaned back in the rocking chair.
Suddenly a slight sound broke the silence.
He twitched his brow and opened his eyes again.
The sound seemed to be coming from downstairs.
After listening for a while, I heard no more sound.
He frowned, as if he had suddenly thought of something, and instantly stood up and went inside.
The room was pitch black. He hurried downstairs, but stopped abruptly after a few steps.
A figure was sitting on the platform between the second and third floors.
She sat alone on the steps, her upper body curled up, her figure thin and frail.
Hearing the sound, she moved slightly, seemingly raising her head.
Then a small sob was heard.
She called his name in a soft voice, with a hint of a sob in her tone.
"Xing Ze, my stomach... my stomach hurts..."
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